Take it big and easy, and you’ll enjoy it.
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The credits list Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin as the principal players, but the real stars of "The Big Easy" are the city of New Orleans and its Cajun music. The movie is one of a dying breed, the romantic thriller. It makes a welcome appearance on DVD.
Quaid plays NOPD homicide lieutenant Remy McSwain. He is breezy, cocky, happy-go-lucky, and supposedly honest. Get used to the Louisiana-French Cajun accent, though; it´s there for the duration. We first meet him as he´s investigating a murder, an apparent mob hit. Enter Ms. Barkin as Anne Osborne, an assistant district attorney checking into alleged police corruption. She is serious, conservative, and not a little uptight. The two don´t exactly hit it off together when they first meet, yet the inevitable is in sight.
From here the movie proceeds in two directions. There is the mystery to be solved, and Quaid and Barkin manage finally to team up and deal with it. And there is the romance between Quaid and Barkin that is at the heart of the picture, a stormy, off-again, on-again kind of relationship. Be assured that by movie´s end all the loose threads of both stories are tied neatly together; but it is probably the film´s human drama that will remain in one´s mind longest, the love interest between Quaid and Barkin and the gradual changes we observe in both their outlooks on life.
Still and all, it´s the ambiance of the city itself that plays an important role in the film. "The Big Easy" is an affectionate nickname for New Orleans as well as an apt description for McSwain´s character and lifestyle. He is Louisiana born and bred; his father was a cop and his father´s father before him. McSwain´s family is prodigious and widespread throughout the city. Meeting the relatives and simultaneously enjoying the location shots are among the film´s big pleasures.
That and the Cajun music. It´s everywhere, from the opening titles to the closing credits. Even Quaid himself sings at one point with a Cajun band at a family gathering. The music´s unique country style can be joyous, nostalgic, or sentimental as the occasion demands, and it helps set the tone for various scenes in the picture. It´s hardly the kind of lush, passionate music one expects for a romance--it´s not "Laura´s Theme" from "Doctor Zhivago," for instance, or the main theme from Zeffirelli´s "Romeo and Juliet." It just establishes the right atmosphere for the occasion.
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[release]1442[/release]